Policy Round Up: Immigration

Moriah RayMoriah Ray is an editorial assistant with GlobalPolicy.tv. She is a Government and Politics major with a minor in international development and conflict management at the University of Maryland College Park where she is a rising Junior. She is passionate about international affairs. Moriah also has a strong interest in human rights advocacy and using public policy to encourage equality.

Immigration reform is an often-debated issue at the local, state and federal level, and there are many differing opinions on how to best deal with undocumented immigrants. But it seems that immigration reform is finally making progress with the latest immigration bill passing its first procedural hurdle on the Senate floor Tuesday, June 11 in a 82-15 vote.

There’s been much said about last week’s vote, and many remain steadfast in their belief that there are major adjustments that need to be made before the bill can move any further. USA Today discusses the top five issues that opponents of the bill brought up. On the other hand, others say that this recent success is a reflection of Congress finally working together to solve this critical issue—particularly with bipartisan groups like the “Gang of 8” working together despite their many policy differences.

Dick Polman believes the GOP must support immigration reform:

“It’s decision time for the GOP. Does the party want to be competitive in future presidential elections, or does it prefer to doom itself to perpetual defeat? This is about basic math. The party can’t win if it stays overwhelmingly white, not in an increasingly diverse nation where Hispanics are the fastest-growing cohort in the electorate.

Pramila Jayapal explores the importance of immigration reform for women:

“Immigration is rarely talked about as a women’s issue, but women and children make up three-quarters of all immigrants to the United States and 51 percent of undocumented immigrants are women. Previous reform proposals did not pay attention to the specific ways in which women were disproportionately burdened and would have continued to exclude millions of women.”

“…in reality, I feel the conversations around immigration reform are more about politics than about people. It feels like they are trying to appease those who talk about border enforcement, the people who don’t want more immigrants of color in the United States. Republicans have to stick to their anti-immigrant perspective for election purposes because that’s how their constituency thinks. So it’s all a political game, and what we’re trying to do is tell them that it’s not just about politics; this is about our lives”

The White House released a video highlighting immigration stories from their staff members. Monika, a Polish immigrant, discusses how immigration has impacted her life:

“We have all these stories and we have this interwoven experience of having come here for a common purpose, which is to make a better life. And from that we have come to aspire so much as people, as children of immigrants to achieve incredible things.”